Build a Sacred Space

For more than 30 years, Vermont Timber Works has had the privilege of handcrafting exquisite wooden beams for Churches and Chapels, which serve to accentuate the vertical lines that characterize houses of worship, helping to lead the eye, and spirit, upward.

Work

with a Custom Shop

A Timber Frame Church or Chapel from Vermont Timber Works can help beautify and strengthen your place of worship.

The Process

With sensitivity and an open, collaborative approach, we design and fabricate the most appropriate timber framing styles for each specific structure, keeping in mind its many potential uses and the variety of events that will take place therein. We will work with you and your congregation from concept, to design, to installation to bring your ideas and inspiration to life.

We want your custom Chapel to meet your exact specifications and that begins with understanding your vision for the space and how it will function. We know that intimate gatherings should not be overpowered by the surroundings, but moments of celebration like weddings require a certain amount of elegance. We can help you design a church that will be beautiful and appropriate for all occasions.

We will begin the design process by drawing preliminary pencil sketches for you and your congregation to review. Then we will create a 3D model of the church and have our engineers go over the plans to ensure structural stability. We will be communicating with you throughout the entire design process and then after our collaborative efforts, we will create detailed 2D shop drawings for your final approval, and stamped engineering drawings are provided for record.

The timber order for your custom Church is placed after your approval, and raw beams are sent to us from our supplier to be cut by hand by our experienced craftspeople. Each beam is carefully selected, marked and labeled. It is cut to size and specification. The arches are sanded smooth and all the beams are finished on all sides with a stain color selected by you.

Raising a church is exciting. The moment follows years of fundraising and design and is celebrated by the congregation. Entire trusses, preassembled on the ground, are lifted into place with a crane. Skilled installers attach the connecting beams and the church takes its final shape. A sacred space is created in a few days. Finally, a tree is nailed to the highest beam to mark the timber frame’s completion.

The crew relaxing after installing the first trusses for Saint Michael the Arch Angel Church in Pawcatuck Connecticut. Scroll down to see a portfolio of timber frame churches that we have built over the past 30 years.

Churches & Chapels Portfolio

In addition to enhancing the atmosphere of the chapel itself, we make timber frames and beams that creatively augment vestibules, entrances, community rooms, and pergolas. No matter what the specifics, the result will be a timeless, handsome and extremely well-crafted architectural feature that will add spatial complexity to the building and inspire your congregation.